


Salvation is Created

by strcnge



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Asexual Character, Asgard, Assassination Attempt(s), Character Death, Daken is an addict, Dark Magic, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, GET READY FOR THE FEELS GUYS, Graphic Description, Gun Violence, Illnesses, Logan has a metal arm too, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Multi, Past Relationship(s), Polyamorous Character, Prostitution, Ragnarok, Smuggling, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 07:32:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7926061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strcnge/pseuds/strcnge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ragnarok was taking place on Earth as much as it was in Asgard. The world was falling apart at the seams; the Earth's air was no longer safe to breathe, smuggling, murder, and prostitution became normal habits of some people to get the bear necessities to survive, and then some.<br/>And heroes were unable to rescue the people like they once did.<br/>Joining forces, the Avengers and X-Men set aside their differences to fight for their own, as well as the rest of the people still struggling to survive. But when those people start becoming unable to be saved, they turn to protecting themselves.<br/>It's just a matter of time before they fall as hard as everyone else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fate of the Gods

**Author's Note:**

> alright so, where to begin... I've been writing this on paper for a while and I'm restarting it here. I'm writing it with different pairings, some new characters, and just almost an entirely different way to set the plot. Also bringing in a new pairing, bc this ship doesn't exist, so I thought I'd get it out there, which is Wade and Daken.  
> Each chapter is the name of a symphonic/orchestral piece that I like and I think fits (the titles, anyway) because I have a vast collection. Some of them may also be names of songs that I see fit/was listening to when I wrote the chapter. A lot of this is going to be filled with feels, so, I'm sorry.  
> Also Logan's metal arm is one of my favourite headcanons, and his tattoos.
> 
> \- Tony

The serpent had risen. Heimdallr's eyes were no longer their brilliant gold, but instead a pure white. Asgard was in devastation, the gods in a state of panic and fearing for the worst.

They knew what was to come.

Heimdallr began to preach of the end days, the start of the apocalypse written in the prophecies, Ragnarok. As Loki's son, the Midgardian serpent, arose from his hiding place, the god of thunder knew his fate was growing closer. The demigod had never felt such a fear before; not from his brother, nor giants, nor the thought of being king. But having memorized the prophecies, knowing what was to come, his imminent death during this next battle, was what scared him - he knew he'd be leaving the others behind in his wake.

Clutching onto Mjolnir, Thor's blue eyes stared out across the Bifrost, looking out into the galaxy around him. He felt his chest ache, a brokenness inside of him that the Asgardian hadn't experienced before. It was new, other worldly - _earthly_. He knew if he wanted to ever see his friends again, even for the last time, he had to leave now, before the serpent was completely awake. Taking a deep breath, Thor crossed the Bifrost, Mjolnir feeling heavy in his hand, heart heavy in his chest. He met Heimdallr's whitened eyes, studying the skin that darkened from the mystical lights, as he knew there would only be one other time. 

"Heimdallr," he spoke in a command, but his voice remained gentler than he thought he could manage. "Transport me to Midgard. I wish to see my team before the prophecies take hold."

Heimdallr nodded to him once, his head moving in a slow motion, and the transporter started.

"Do not be shocked by the things you see in Midgard."

~;;~;;~

Earth was a chaotic mess.

Abnormal weather patterns began occurring throughout the world - tornadoes in countries that never experienced them, unusually strong hurricanes in the south and stronger monsoons in the middle east. Strange weather occurrences swept through Europe and Asia, and snow became unheard of through the entire world, including in places like northern Sweden, Russia, and even Greenland, due to rapidly increasing temperatures that happened globally. As the sea levels rose, many parts of other countries and island states disappeared, such as the entirety of Hawaii, Japan, and Iceland, and parts of Alaska, northern Canada, and the majority of Australia. States along the coast of the United States were partially or completely submerged, people rapidly moving towards the center of the country with the little gasoline left in their vehicles. The toxic air, lack of preparation, unusual weather patterns, sinking countries and states, and mass hysteria killed people by the thousands each day. The people who were fighting to survive became Scavengers.

Scavengers were dangerous people. These vile humans were fully armed with weapons and expert military training, ready to fight tooth and nail for supplies that were becoming rare or limited throughout their countries. Meat products were the one thing that drove people to killing, as meat was such a precious resource now that most of the livestock was dying out. This one product was what caused many innocent civilians (because there were few, but they existed nonetheless) to die at the hands of Scavengers.

The first thing Thor noticed upon his arrival to the destroyed planet was the heat. It was intense, sweltering waves that could be seen in the distance. The skies above him were blackened with soot and dirty clouds, the blue that was once there completely hidden behind a curtain of onyx and slate. The sun, gold and orange in its smoldering glory, shone through the black to make the heat much worse. Ashes of white and gray fluttered to the surface from the sky, blanketing the dry, barren grounds in a thick layer. Had the heat not been present, Thor would've been convinced the white he saw was snow, as it was December, after all.

The thunder god covered his mouth and nose with his cape, squinting his eyes to shield them from the dust that surrounded him, as he trudged through ash to his way to Sanctum Sanctorum, which stood proud in the middle of all the chaos, thanks to various protection spells. New York around it was destroyed - flames and heat combined exploded gas stations, melted steel frames of buildings and skyscrapers, and caused many of them to cave in or collapse. Debris lay beneath layers of ash, the dust from collapsed buildings and ash combining to make the air unsafe to breathe unfiltered.

Slowly approaching the Sanctum, taking careful steps, Thor felt sweat dripping down his face, the salt stinging his eyes as he tried to make him way through the ash. He heard a gun load, and stopped.

"Who's out there?" A familiar voice called. Thor knew that voice well, it was the Captain's long time friend, James. Of course it would be him, he'd be the one outside with a gun.

"James? I come to speak with everyone. I must be leaving soon," he stated, having to shout over the hot wind which blew around him, again beginning to approach the Sanctum, but Bucky was never in sight. One helluva sniper, that man was.

There was no reply as Thor made his way into the Sanctum, where he was greeted by several heroes - other Avengers, several X-Men, of course Doctor Strange, and someone he had never seen before. He studied her for a short time, taking in her pale, near-white skin and platinum hair that was streaked with dirt, her pretty light eyes and a cloak that floated around her, much like Stephen's.

"How are things in Asgard?" Stephen began as he brought another delicacy - tea - to the demigod. "I'm certain you've seen how the conditions here are."

"Asgard is not much better than this, minus the dust and debris," he replied, taking a sip of the warm beverage. "I came here to see you all again... By this time tomorrow, I shall be off to fight Jormungandr, for it's written in the prophecies that I must do so."

"What? You mean we're also losing you?" Steve chipped in, a concerned look in those blue eyes.

"It's within my fate, Captain... I wish it were not so." The room fell silent after this, for what seemed like forever, until Bucky and Logan returned from the outside.

"Any new civilians?" Steve asked, standing to move towards the other two.

"Not one. All of 'em ain't civilized. There's more Scavengers than people," Logan replied, tearing off the scarf over his nose and mouth, removing his goggles and stripping off the dusty trench coat. Thor furrowed his eyes slightly at the added feature to Logan - his left arm was made of metal, much like Bucky's, although the designs on the metal were the tattoos that were previously on his real arm.

"Not a single civil person? You're kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'd be kiddin' ya, Rogers? Earth's goin' downhill, it's a matter o' time 'fore we get t' be just like 'em," Logan said before pushing past the Captain, clearly annoyed by everything that had been going on. Bucky placed a chaste kiss to the Captain's cheek after pulling away his mask, before pulling it back over his nose and following Logan down to the basement of the Sanctum.

"Times have been tough here," Stephen told Thor, gray eyes keeping their gaze on the wall in front of him. "And they're just going to get worse."


	2. Children's Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jumping to another part of the world where other mutants and heroes are residing, to give you all a feel for how this apocalypse is effecting everyone. This is the chapter where I'll introduce one of my otps, but it doesn't exist in the fandom, which is Wade and Daken.  
> TW: DRUG ADDICTION, DRUG USE, PROSTITUTION  
> Yes, I write Daken as an addict. He was an addict in the comics, but not to what I write him addicted to. DAKEN IS AN ADDICT IN THIS FIC. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.  
> Song: Children's Games - Modest Mussorgsky
> 
> \- Tony

With the scarf over his nose, it was difficult to smell. He relied on his sense of smell, it was how he got through most of his life (maybe include the healing factor in that as well, but mostly his sense of smell was what kept him out of the most trouble). He was only looking for one thing, one thing that would be able to make him stop being so irritable and pissed off:

The sweet release of a fix.

Any kind of drug would do at this point. Painkillers became such a rare drug to come in contact with, that the mutant was willing to fall back into his old lifestyle just to get a hold of the product. But he knew, deep down, he was willing to shoot up with heroin, or, in his most desperate attempt to get high, snuff cocaine (which was most certainly difficult, especially due to the toxicity of the air). But what he really hoped he could get was painkillers.

Even if it meant reverting back to his old ways of prostitution.

Daken was lucky to find himself in a part of the continent that still had yet to be as toxic as the rest. The toxicity levels were rising steadily, for sure, but he knew it hadn't happened quite yet; he would have been able to smell it.

Walking carefully through alleys, narrow blue eyes scanning the faces surrounding him. He was becoming rather frustrated with the scarf over his nose, as he couldn't smell everything clearly, which made scents mix up and become unidentifiable. That's when he spotted it - the desired drug, in the hands of a scruffy, but rather handsome younger man.

Oxycontin.

"What will it take to convince you to part with that drug?" He asked in a low voice, looking down at the man sitting against the wall of the darkening alley. Observing his features, he looked no older than his late twenties, his face scruffy and hair mussy from not having a proper shave/cut for quite some time, and the smell of body odor was faint but present, and Daken concluded the man hadn't showered in quite some time. He wore clothes that looked slightly too big for him, and were rather dusty from the raining ash. 

"This?" The man replied, holding up the bottle containing the precious pills. Daken's eyes followed it, before quickly darting back to the man's face. His withdrawal levels were high, and it was taking a lot of his will not to lunch for the man and get the pills himself.

He needed to remain at least slightly civil.

"Yes, the Oxycontin. What will it take for you to hand it over to me?" Daken asked again, and the man studied him for a moment. Daken could have groaned - if it was sex he wanted, it was sex he'd get.

"Take off that scarf," the man suddenly commanded, getting off the ground, and to Daken's disliking, looking down at him. "Let me see your face. Hold your breath if you need to."

Daken complied to the man's wishes, holding his breath as he pulled the scarf away from his nose and lips, calculating blue eyes studying the man's face for a reaction. It was the one he had been expecting, especially with the added dose of lustful pheromones to make the deal go quicker.

"I've got a bunker that I can take you to, so you don't get ash in those lungs of yours. You'll need them," He said, grabbing Daken by the wrist and dragging him the way he had came, Daken pulling his scarf back over his nose and doing his best not to growl and just kill the guy.

The things he did for drugs.

~;;~;;~

The man had finally fallen asleep on one of the beds in the bunker.

Daken was grateful the man was finally out, as he could now get himself situated, grab the drugs and whatever cash the man had left, and flee. He was quick to get back into his clothes, almost groaning at the soreness he felt from behind. He admitted to himself the human had done rather well in his performance, as he found most human males could hardly compete with his standards. Perhaps this man hadn't been human, because no mortal man had ever made the mutant sore before.

That was one for the books.

Daken rifled through the man's jacket pockets, finding the bottle that held the pills, as well as the wallet. He took the entire wallet with him, not bothering to leave any evidence that he had been there, and stuck the bottle of pills in the inside of his trench coat. He popped four pills before leaving the bunker as quietly as he could, and quickly making his way back to the private underground chambers he and a few others were residing in.

~;;~;;~

Upon arrival, a certain mercenary greeted him.

"Baby boy, you've been gone some time!" The merc exclaimed with a grin, and Daken was quickly swept up in his arms.

"Yes, I know, I was gone longer than I expected. I needed a fix, you know that. You should be proud of me, not killing the man on sight," Daken replied, stripping off his trench coat after taking the money and pills out from the inside pockets and throwing them on a small table.

"Why didn't you? It's not like you to be civil when going through withdrawals," Wade said as he took Daken's trench coat and hung it on a hook beside the door of the underground entrance, next to his suit. "In fact, you being civil isn't exactly your style when it comes to any affair."

"I figured I shouldn't make a name for myself in a place like this. Didn't even catch the lowlife's name," Daken muttered as he looked at the ID inside the wallet. "Oh, Johnathan Taylor... Interesting."

"How old was he? You know I need the details baby, and if ya don't tell me, I'm just gonna ask," Wade spoke as he went over to Daken with a wet cloth, gently beginning to get the soot and ash off of his face and out of his hair.

"He couldn't have been older than his mid-twenties. Scruffy, unkept hair, didn't smell the greatest - he wasn't you, Wade."

"Of course he wasn't me. Only I'm me." Daken smiled slightly at Wade's reply, enjoying Wade's gentle touch and the soft kisses that were placed on his face here and there.

"I hope not to see him again. Word can't get out of me being a sex worker," Daken said as he began to strip off the old clothes in favour of cleaner ones. "Even if it would bring in a lot more money than we have now, I couldn't handle having that reputation again. Have you heard word of the Avengers or X-Men?" He suddenly changed the subject, going to the kitchen-like area of the bunker to search for something to eat while he listened if Wade had any news.

"I have, actually, and I learned why the hell this whole shit-show started in the first place," Wade spoke as he noticed Daken rummaging for food, and it clicked that Daken had already gotten his fix before he came back. "Apparently that whole Norse mythology apocalypse thing started, Ragnarok, I think he called it. Thor's going to be dying by some giant snake, which sounds like one helluva way to die in my opinion, and we're probably all going to fall as well. I kinda stopped listening because no matter how much those two douchebags hate each other, Steve and Scott constantly drone on," Wade rambled, not entirely realizing he was ranting until Daken came in and stopped him with a kiss.

"I've heard enough to get the point, Wade. Ragnarok started, and the Earth as we know it is doomed. Correct?"

"Damn, you're a lot better at summarizing your words than I am. You definitely need to teach me how to do that. Hey, did you find your sister?"

"No. I was busy getting drugs. I'll look for her again tomorrow. If anything, she's probably already found our father. Ellie's still out getting supplies, Raze is doing the same but he's probably murdering. Not exactly sure where Peter is... But for now, we have this place to ourselves. Let's say we make the most of our alone time? We haven't had any in so long..." Daken purred, coming from the kitchen with a half-empty bottle of wine and two small glasses. He set them on the same small table by their bunk, beside the money and pills, before crawling onto the bed and over to Wade.

"Wow, you've wanted nothing to do with me in forever. I've missed ya, baby," Wade muttered as their lips met, the merc's arms wrapping tightly around the smaller mutants waist.

"I've missed you, too," Daken whispered, before the two were lost in each other, the passion between them quickly heating up the underground space.

~;;~;;~;;

"Hey, we're back!" Peter called into the dark space as he and Ellie entered quietly, carefully, as the two knew well what happens when one leaves Wade and Daken alone for a long time.

"Petey! You're back, and alive as well! Ah, Ellie, you are, too!" Wade called to them with a smile, the first time they'd seen him in anything less than a hoodie and jeans - instead he was wearing the same jeans, but with only a t-shirt and barefoot. Daken must've given him a little confidence back.

"Yea, we're back," Ellie finally spoke up, untying the black scarf that was around her nose and mouth. She then dropped a bag at the foot of Wade's bunk, and it landed with a solid  _thunk_.

"What? What's in this?" Daken asked as he got out of the bed, shirtless but with sweats on, rummaging through the bag and doing a quick glance of everything inside of it. "Preserved meets, aged cheeses, alcohol, canned fruits - how the hell did you manage this?" He soon asked in bewilderment, especially after finding a stash of morphine and Oxycontin (which he knew it wasn't all for him, but it was enough that he'd have a good fix every few weeks without having to sell himself).

"There was an entire warehouse just sitting there, untouched. Raze kept watch while Ellie and I gathered as much as we could into that dufflebag, without it being to bulky or too heavy. We plan on going back sometime tomorrow, to get more stuff, and maybe when we join the Avengers and X-Men, we can share it with them," Peter ranted as Raze entered behind him, letting his disguise fade away as he returned to his natural blue. "We also found a pharmacy, so we got some painkillers - both for Daken and for actual medicinal use, as well as Raze's anti-psychotic meds. We'll be set for some time."

"Well done, young ones," Daken said with a genuine smile. "I think this calls for a well-deserved  _actual_ meal, wouldn't you agree?"


	3. Nothing's Fair in Love and War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is going to switch back and fourth between both sides of the story, and it'll remain that way until they finally meet.  
> TW: DRUG USE, DRUG ADDICTION  
> Song: Nothing's Fair in Love and War - Three Days Grace
> 
> \- Tony

"We brought in a stray," Raze announced as Peter and Ellie entered behind him, the blue-skinned mutant dragging someone behind him.

Female, pale skin, dirt-streaked white hair, crystal blue eyes; Daken immediately recognized her.

Clea Strange.

"Well, you didn't have to tie her up! Let the poor girl go, for god's sake," Daken was quick to Clea's side, taking the scarf off of her mouth and nose, cutting through the webbing around her hands with his wrist claw. "I apologize for my brother's troublesome behaviour, Clea."

"Don't worry about it," She dismissed, rolling her wrists in a circle and flexing her fingers when her hands were free. "I expected it, after I completely attacked him with magic..."

_"Who are you?" She called out, her voice muffled by her lavender scarf, golden rings around her hands in an attempt to keep herself protected. She was the sorceress supreme, she could defend herself from anyone... She hoped._

_"Don't worry about who we are,"  Raze replied, only able to see the golden rings around her hands from the distance they were apart (which wasn't far, the ash was just falling so heavy that particular morning, that it made the surrounding areas difficult to see). "You're coming with us - it's not safe out here, especially not alone."_

_"I can take care of myself," she called back, moving her dirty hair away from her eyes._

_"If you don't come with us voluntarily, we'll be taking you with us by force," he said, and she heard the mumbles of two other voices. She couldn't make out words - hell, she could barely recognize the pitch of the voices, but she knew it was distinctively two._

_Bravely, Clea began to walk towards them, keeping the golden rings shining around her hands, as a sign of warning and a way of protection. Raze motioned for the other two to follow him, as his claws came out, and he lengthened them to the length of his father's with his mutation, Peter and Ellie both ready to attack at a moment's notice._

_They met._

_"Hold it!" She yelled as they finally came in view of each other, her cloak billowing around her in a dome of protection. "I won't come with you, but I can show you somewhere with plenty of -" she was cut off by a web over her scarf, which she took as an act of attack. Moving her hands in front of her, palms out, using her magic to stop another web from hitting her. She froze them all in place with magic, looking at them with a hard glare. She slowly released the hold she had on them, which was her first mistake._

_Quickly, another web wrapped around her hands, tying them together. Clea was rather confused by the situation - wasn't Spider-man supposed to be a hero?_

_"Well done," She heard the blue-skinned one say, and she assumed he was the leader of the three. "Let's take her with us..."_

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Daken muttered, shooting a glare at the other three. "Instead of bringing in another hostage, why don't you go raid that warehouse again? Possibly the pharmacy, and get me a few doses of morphine," Daken ordered them, Peter and Ellie nodding as they each got an empty duffel bag and slung it over their shoulders, Raze growling quietly but doing the same. The three put on their gloves, tied scarves over their faces, slipped on their goggles, and headed out of the bunker (Wade followed them, because he didn't want to be inside the bunker anymore). That left Daken alone with Clea.

"Why did you come here? Did you know it was destroyed like this?" Daken asked her, sitting across from her on the bed.

"I sensed a lot of confusing activity happening in Asgard, and I figured it was linked with here... I didn't expect it to be destroyed like this," She replied, combing through her platinum hair with her fingers.

"Does Stephen know you're here?"

"No, he doesn't," her tone was very firm. "I haven't seen him in years and I'm not wanting to face him now. Unless word gets out that I'm not in my dimension, he shouldn't know... Thus why I arrived in another part of the states. I didn't expect to meet you guys here; especially not Peter..."

"Peter's... changed, since the apocalypse started. He wasn't in New York when it started, and he wasn't able to get back there in time," Daken began explaining to her, leaning back against the cold wall. "I've been staying here with wade, since my country is completely underwater now. Ellie was the first to join us, then Peter, then my insolent brother. He's not right up here currently," he continued, tapping two fingers against his temple. "He's on three different anti-psychotic meds, trying to figure out which ones work. He probably thought you might be useful for something - who knows with that dimwit."

"Not to get off track here," she interrupted, placing a gentle hand on Daken's knee. "But where are the others? Like Stephen, and the Avengers?"

"New York. From what I know, several of the X-Men and most of the Avengers are staying in the magic-protected Sanctum."

"Right... the Sanctum... I should've known," she whispered, sighing quietly. "Is there a place in here I can freshen up? At least get the ashes and dirt out of my hair?" She asked, Daken nodding, his eyes following her as she stood.

"There's a bathroom down that way," he said as he pointed in the direction. "We need to conserve water, so make it quick."

Clea nodded, and left in the direction he instructed.

~;;~;;~

Things in the Sanctum weren't terrible, but weren't running the smoothest either. Scavengers were becoming relentless with their raiding, and kept on trying to find ways into the Sanctum. Bucky tended to sleep most of the day, as he stayed up through the night as a sniper, assassinating the Scavengers attempting to break through the Sanctum's magic. The strongest of the men were out during the day, attempting to build tall fences (whilst fighting against the blazing heat). Tony had created an armor to withstand the toxic air and the heat, and he with another hero usually went out to get more supplies for the fence/the others inside the Sanctum.

It was getting tiring for everyone.

"Has anyone heard anything from someone out there?" Steve asked as they all sat around the living room in a circle, candles lighting the dim room as the darkness swept the outdoors.

"There's another band of mutants that have been taking advantage of the less-dense population across the country," Scott announced, the rest of them turning their attentions to the mutant leader. "The reports of familiar faces would be the masks of Spider-man and Deadpool, and they've been spotted with three other mutants, which I assume one of them must be Daken."

"Daken? He's alive?" Logan asked, as he'd been anxious to know if his son was surviving through the apocalyptic hell.

"I assume so," Scott tried to be as reassuring as possible in his tone. "He usually sticks with Wade, and I don't see Wade letting Daken be on his own in a situation like this."

"You said Spider-man was with them?" Steve asked suddenly, everyone turning their attentions back to the Captain.

"Yes," Scott repeated, his tone more firm than previously. "He's changed; they say he works more as a mercenary than he does as a hero, but the rumors had to travel across the country, so who knows if the source of it is even reliable."

"Are we sendin' a search an' rescue team?" Logan asked, making eye contact with the Captain. "Not all of us can go, only a select few. Tha ones who're able t' survive those conditions need t' be sent out, which doesn't include Stephen - tha Sanctum needs t' be protected."

"Logan and Tony can go for sure; the two of you can withstand the toxins with the suit and the healing factor," Steve began, Tony ushering for Logan to follow him to the other room to start gathering weapons and supplies. "Bucky, I want you to be with them as well - I know there's already a technology expert on the force, but we need someone who's good with handhelds, and other various military guns. Jean, you're the only other one here with medical training, so you're to go with them for transporting medical supplies -"

"- We're gonna need morphine," Logan interrupted, a slight irritation appearing in the Captain's eyes from it.

"And why would you need that?" He asked, watching the metal arm as Logan crossed his arms across his chest.

"For Daken," Logan stated, motioning for Jean to gather a few lethal (to the average person) doses of the pain remedy. "He's surely havin' terrible withdrawals, an' if we find 'im, I ain't gonna let 'im suffer any more than he has to."

"You shouldn't give him too much of it. Start getting him off of it fast," Stephen spoke up as he came through the doors of the Sanctum, quickly pulling off the ash-covered scarf and trench coat, draping them over the open door of a cabinet. "Give him enough to keep him from getting sick, but not enough to completely satisfy those withdrawals. He's always going to be addicted, but if he wants to get through this with a little less misery, he needs to start getting off the drug as soon as possible. I can guarantee the group he's with hasn't been doing much to get him off of it."

"Keepin' 'im from gettin' sick is still close t' overdose level," Logan replied as his wife brought back to him a syringe with multiple needles and small bottles of liquid morphine in a small, black bag (the needles having their own case inside). "His healin' factor counteracts tha drug to a certain extent." 

"I know it does, I know his dosage. I've been struggling to get him off of it for a while, before this whole apocalypse began. I highly doubt with the added stress he's been sticking to what I've been trying to do with him. Please heed my advice, Logan. It's for your son's benefit - it will help him in the long-run," Stephen explained, placing a hand gently on Logan's shoulder, before moving past him to speak with Jean.

"Stephen, I need you to keep your mind open to me during this trip," she stated, looking up into the sorcerer's gray eyes. "There's no way we'll be able to keep in touch otherwise, we'll be out in the middle of nowhere. I can only do so much before it gives me a headache, trying to search out people via telepathy. We could definitely use the Eye for guidance, but in order to do that, we need to keep a firm mental connection. Will you allow that?" She asked, as she knew Stephen wasn't one to let his mind be open to anyone, especially telepaths. With his practice in magic, he was even able to keep Charles from his mind. He didn't want others invading his thoughts - something he learned the hard way.

"I trust you, Jean. I will keep my mind open to your communications. I'll help guide you all, help keep the rest of you out of trouble." At his response, she smiled, and a spark of relief appeared in her emerald eyes.

Stephen let his mind open to her.


	4. Arrival of the Birds & Transformation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry my updates are becoming so far in-between, I've been busy with school, band, and just overall exhausted. I'm doing my best.  
> so as you know, the Sanctum gang are set out to find the Bunker gang, and oh boy this is going to be quite a journey across the country. like I said, this story is going to keep switching pov's until the two groups meet, but I'm going to have fun with it.  
> TW: DRUG USE, DRUG ADDICTION  
> Song: Arrival of the Birds & Transformation - The Cinematic Orchestra

"This place is a fuckin' jackpot!" Wade exclaimed, pulling the bottom of his mask up over his mouth and nose as they entered an old warehouse.

"Yeah, we found it as we were looking for another pharmacy of some sort," Peter explained, taking off his mask as the door to the warehouse closed silently behind them. "We barely had enough space to store anything, because we needed a bag for the drugs... Speaking of that, Ellie, did you bring Daken's bag?"

"Yeah, I did. I made sure to grab it before he noticed. We can put the meds in this bag. That way we'll have more room for other supplies," Ellie replied, putting the bag over her shoulders and tightening the straps.

"Good. Okay, Raze, start gathering anything canned. Wade and I are going to search for stuff we can use as weapons or any other supplies we may need. Ellie, keep watch. When this raid is over, we'll head back to that pharmacy. We need to make it back to our bunker in a timely manner," the young hero instructed, everyone following his orders with little hesitation (save for Raze, who was currently slightly unstable from mixing different anti-psych medications). 

Raze shoved multiple cans into two duffel bags until they were filled, and by then there was hardly any canned food left in the section he was. "I think I have enough to sate us," he said, looking over at the small mutant who stood against the door frame.

"Congrats," she said, looking over at him. "Are you sure you can carry those by yourself?"

"Please, I have my dad's strength to aid me," he replied, flashing a grin as he hauled the two bags over his shoulders.

\----

"How has this place not been invaded? It's like the Californians missing out on a place filled with gold during the gold rush," Wade said, sifting through all kinds of supplies. "How many needles do you think we'll need? We can't exactly share - y'all ain't got a healing factor like we do."

"Wade, shut it, please. Not all of us need drugs."

"It's not exactly his fault." Peter stopped sifting through things to look over at Wade.

"I thought you said you were getting him off of morphine?"

"I was. Wasn't lyin'. But with everything going on, and me being gone for as long as I was, he couldn't detox for more than a day. I was lucky enough to keep him off of heroin and LSD, and when he started Oxycontin, I have no idea." After Wade spoke, Peter became silent. It was just hitting him the severity of Daken's addiction, but he figured out that it was all triggered by different levels of stress.

And after nearly fifty years of addiction, it wasn't exactly a choice for Daken anymore.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea his addiction was that far," Peter apologized, Wade waving his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, I didn't understand it at first either. It took me a while  ~~~~to figure out his addiction was stress-based, and it took even longer for me to get him to detox a few minutes longer at a time... His record still holds that he detoxed for a month..." a small, fond smile graced Deadpool's face as he remembered the times before this apocalypse started. "I was proud of him, it'd taken him so much to get that far..."

"How did the two of you meet? Ya know, after the warehouse fight where he cut your hands off..."

"He came to the mansion, since he had such a high warrant over his head in Japan. It was the safest place for him. When I saw him that second time, it was almost baffling how pretty he was... I didn't remember him being so beautiful. Something about him was just so intriguing... maybe it was just destiny I join that really strange family of mutants, but I'm still not ashamed that he's in my life, that he's mine... I did my best to get him clean, and I was so proud of the small progresses he made everyday, but with this... mess... he couldn't keep that progress. I'm hoping to try again, so that he's not forced to detox immediately when the painkiller supply runs real low, but by the looks of things, I don't see that happening."

Silence fell between the mercenary and the hero, for both of them understood the risks that would come with a detoxing Wolverine. The overall benefit, they knew, would be much better for Daken's health and everyone else's safety, that those risks were willing to be taken. The trick was just getting him off of those drugs as soon as possible.

~;;~;;~

The group from the Sanctum had been traveling for several days now, Jean's telepathy connected to the Eye guiding the way. The heat and falling ash disrupted Logan's acute sense of smell, and it was difficult for him to differentiate what scent came from where, not to mention the scarf over his mouth and nose only aiding that struggle. Jean had made a telepathic barrier around them, but it only did so much to take off the heat. Luckily for Tony, the built in cooling in the suit helped him keep from overheating, both inside and out due to the suit's heat-resistance, so he was able to fly higher up without danger to keep watch over everything. Bucky had already taken out several Scavengers who attempted to attack them, and even Logan had attacked one that attempted to pounce his wife when Bucky's back was turned.

The journey to find those others was rather intense. They knew they had to cross the entire country to get to them, and hoped for untouched warehouses and abandoned homes for what they needed to survive, for they only had a limited amount of equipment.

Exhausted, they found a small, abandoned home half-buried in ash, and climbed through the broken windows to the inside where they could avoid the ash. The heat was still intense, but they were used to it by now.

"Did Stephen give us anymore direction?" Tony asked as he stepped out of his suit, ordering for it to power down and recharge.

"He lead me to this little house," Jean began, removing her scarf and goggles, and stripping off her long coat. "This is the only place we'll have to rest for a while. A lot of the buildings around us have already been buried in ash, and several have caught fire from the heat. We've a long way to go before we can find a bunker of some sort."

"Looks like this house has already been raided," Bucky observed quietly as he removed his own mask. "There's nothing here to spare, so we're going to live on what we brought on our own for tonight. Hopefully the next place we make it to will have more supplies."

"Pray that whatever higher bein' that's out there helps us out," Logan mumbled, looking for a clear space with less ash to lay out blankets for the others to sleep on.

~;;~;;~

The smaller group of misfits and one mystical princess had managed to keep their bunker from being raided or taken over by Scavengers. It was a lot of stress; little sleep, constant paranoia, being threatened by even the smallest sound - Daken's addiction was beginning to get out of hand.

Daken was injecting up to three syringes of morphine in a day, just to cope with the stress and exhaustion. He was his highest before falling asleep, so that he could stay that way through the night,and the paranoia wouldn't keep him so focused on the small sounds. The injections were leaving bruises in his arms from where his shaky hands were missing the veins when in detox. He was running low on the drug more than ever, and found himself prostituting for the drug and/or cash more and more each day. He was getting sick from it.

Wade knew it was only a matter of time before Daken managed to get himself killed.

It broke the mercenary's heart to see his partner lose himself this way; it hadn't even been that bad when they had met all those years ago, this was by far the worst of the addiction he'd seen. He tried to coax Daken off the drug, making sure he took a little less of the dose every time he injected.

But Wade wasn't able to keep a watch over the mutant when he was patrolling the outside of the bunker, to keep it away from those savages.

What everyone was worried about was when they ran out of drugs - when the morphine supply got low not only for them, but for everyone. Daken would be in constant agony, being sick from the detox, and they were all worried he'd get to a state of being feral from how much pain he would be in.

Wade, especially, wasn't prepared to see that happen.

"I need morphine," Daken whispered, night falling outside the bunker, and the mutant began to grow exhausted. "I need to sleep, I need my fix."

"You're right about needing sleep, but you can't keep getting high before passing out, you could overdose," Wade said, grabbing onto Daken's thinning wrist gently. Daken flinched at the touch, avoiding Wade's eyes.

"I won't overdose, please, I need a fix," Daken began to beg, meeting Wade's eyes for only a moment, trying to plead for a fix.

"Daken..." Wade's voice trailed off once he noticed the mutant's hands trembling, and saw the amount of desperation in those pretty blue eyes. "I'll... I'll give you a dose, but it won't be enough to make you overdose. It's going to be less than you usually take; we're running low -"

"-Just get me the drug, please, I don't care about the dosage," he said, pulling his wrist from Wade's grip and folding his hands tightly in his lap. Wade was quick about his movements, getting the liquid painkiller from the bottle into a syringe and with a clean needle, and he felt since his hands were steadier, he'd be the one to administrate the drug. 

Making his way back to Daken's side, he gently took hold of the male's wrist and held his arm firmly, able to see Daken's veins well. He was careful about putting in the needle, injecting the painkiller slowly, watching as Daken's body relaxed slowly. The dose wasn't nearly enough to overdose him, barely enough to get him high because of the healing factor, but it was enough that his body and mind could function normally.

"Thank you..." Daken whispered as Wade pulled the needle out, quickly moving to discard of it. He heard Daken fall back in his bunk, knowing the mutant was already crawling under the covers and letting the drug lull him to sleep. Wade sighed quietly as he turned to look back at his partner.

He just wished he could do more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, I made Wade a little more serious, sue me  
> also, I tapped more into Daken's drug addiction, which I hope helped highlight how difficult this whole thing really is for them


End file.
